Family – Asteraceae, aster family
Genus, species – Symphyotrichum ericoides
Leaves are small, numerous, linear.
Flower heads are small with white or pale pink "petals." The petals are individual ray flowers. Heath aster is one of the last plants to produce flowers during autumn.
Requires full sun. Occurs in upland prairies, pastures, old fields, and roadsides.
Heath aster is also known as farewell-to-summer and goodbye-meadow, first because it ushers in the fall and second because it tends to take over a field.
The family name, Asteraceae, is from the Greek for “star,” referring to the star-shaped flower heads. The species name, ericoides, is from the Greek for “heath.”